The city in summer floated in a daze that moved otherwise sensible people to repeat endlessly the brainless greeting “Hot enough for ya? Ha-ha!” It was like the final joke before the meltdown of the world in a pool of sweat.

New York City's first summer heat wave broke on Friday evening, and the
Empire State Building seemed like a fine place to watch the lightning
as the cold front slid in from the west.

Lightning strikes New Jersey the evening of June 22, 2012
photo from the Empire State Building Observation Deck

Shortly after taking the photo, there was a flash and immediate crack of
thunder, and the outdoor deck was closed. The web is conflicted on
whether the skyscraper is struck by lightning 10 times, 25 times, or 100 times a year.

A variety of weather instruments are visible above the 86th floor
deck. The wind speed and direction are shown on this beautiful Art
Deco dial in the lobby,
restored in 2009:

Scientists have been fascinated by snowflakes since the
invention of the microscope.
The most realistic simulated snowflakes to date come from
mathematicians David Griffeath
and Janko Gravner.
Their most recent work on the subject generates elaborate three-dimensional
"snowfakes" down to the microscopic ice caves inside.

The Lunar New Year begins today. According to a Chinese calendar
going back more than three thousand years, this year is named for
the Dragon, a mythical creature of power, wisdom, and good luck.

The Chinese
dragon is unlike the
guardian monsters
of European myth. In East Asia, dragons are an
honored part of nature's royalty, rulers of skies and storms.
The dragons of Japan and China are found in the air, but never seem to
need wings. They are never completely visible, and they can shrink to
the size of a silkworm or fill the sky.

Collecting images of weather dragons has been kind of a hobby
while building the Upweather app. So the beginning of a Dragon
year seems like a great time to kick off the Upweather blog.
There will be more here about Upweather, and more about dragons
too.